HeismanWatch.com’s Week 9 Rankings

HeismanWatch.com’s Week 9 Rankings

1) JT Barrett

A lot of Heisman “moments” are determined how you perform against your toughest opponents. Other Heisman “moments” are determined by the drama surrounding an epic game. Saturday, JT Barrett had both. What a game, what a finish, what an ascension to the top of the Heisman conversation. Barrett completed his last 16 passes, guiding Ohio State to a comeback win against #2 Penn St. in the closing minutes, 39-38.

After Saturday, Barrett’s numbers are just bonkers:

270.8 passing yards per game

25 TD’s / one interception

69.5% completion percentage

176.2 Rating

56.75 rushing yards per game

5 Rushing TD’s

2) Saquon Barkley

Tough game to dock Barkley down the Heisman rankings. After all, the first time he touched the ball he turned it into a 97-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. Complement that with a 36 yard TD run and Barkley proved on Saturday that he is once again on the most dangerous player in the country no matter how he gets the ball. That is unless you look deeper at the stats and Barkley couldn’t have been held in check more than he was in Columbus, OH. Outside of the one rushing TD, Barkley had 20 carries for only 8 yards. That’s a stubby 0.4 YPC average. Still sensational, but stock is officially dwindling just a bit.

3) Baker Mayfield

Doing Baker Mayfield things. With over 300 yards of total offense and five total TD’s to boot, the Sooner ‘slinger just keeps on doing his thing. Mayfield still ranks in the top-10 in yards, completion percentage, TD’s, yards/att, rating and yards/game. Oklahoma still ranks in the top-10 nationally and an epic in-state rivalry is set to ensue this Saturday against Oklahoma St. with CFB Playoffs and Heisman stakes on the line.

4) Jonathan Taylor

Wisconsin is quietly putting together a championship team, a lot of that is due to their freshman RB Jonathan Taylor.

4th in FBS in rushing yards, 1,185 yards.

T-10th in rushing TD’s with 11

5th in rushing yards per game, 148.13

Rushing alone, Taylor is blowing away the likes of Barkley (1,185 / 801). Playing on an undefeated team and playing every game consistently well, sets him apart from the likes of Stanford’s Bryce Love. Taylor is not a factor in the receiving or return game whatsoever, so Barkley stays ahead of Taylor for now on our list. On the year, Taylor has only two catches. Love isn’t much of a receiver either, but his total rushing yards and yards/game blow away Taylor. However, Love missed last game and Stanford barely edged past Oregon State. Taylor gets the nod with participation points in comparison with Love.

5) Josh Adams

The clean-up hitter for the Notre Dame Fighting Irish, Adams has four consecutive games with a run of over 70 yards. Those long runs are the reason why Adams is averaging 8.6 YPC, better than Taylor and Barkley. Adams is 5th in the FBS in rushing yards and Notre Dame is 5th in the rankings. If Notre Dame continues their success with Adams leading the way, expect the Irish and Adams to have postseason plans that only a select few have.

Honorable Mentions

Mason Rudolph

Your yardage passing leader with 2,866, Rudolph is guiding the Oklahoma State Cowboys into BIG-12 Title contention. Saturday he squares up against Baker Mayfield. In my opinion, whichever QB comes out of that game victorious and can proceed to win the conference while performing at the same level they’ve already been excelling at, will get invited to NYC.

Rashaad Penny

It’s odd to imagine that we’d be this deep into the season and not Sam Darnold, Jake Browning or Josh Rosen, but the one player we’re talking about from the West Coast is a San Diego St. running back but here we are. Penny is 2nd in the FBS in rushing yards with 1,368 and has 12 rushing TD’s to lead the Aztecs who have stumbled as of late. Penny is a darkhorse to make it to NYC, but his efforts are worth noting.

Bryce Love

The FBS’ rushing leader despite playing in fewer games than most. Love has 1,387 rushing yards in only seven games played (Penny – 9, Taylor – 8, Adams – 8, Barkley – 8). That’s nearly 200 yards/game if you’re doing the math. Stanford has a decent shot to play for the PAC-12 Championship. That game and over 2,000 yards rushing will look pretty, pretty, pretty good in the eyes of Heisman voters in December.